Central Montana Times

The VA Montana Health Care System Montana scheduled 42,079 pending appointments across its locations during the period ending January 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments 39,049 had a wait time of 30 days or less (92.8%) and 3,030 appointments (7.2%) were scheduled more than 30 days out.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in January 2019 reported wait times for new appointments at VA health care facilities were similar to or better than wait times at private-sector providers between 2014 and 2017.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO), however, released a report in July 2019 cautioning the VA’s data-tracking system only captures part of the appointment process and fails to account for the time that it takes the VA to enroll veterans in its health benefits program.

Debra Draper, health care director at the GAO, told the House Veterans Affairs Committee new patients may actually wait up to 70 days for an appointment when they first enroll for benefits.

The VA explains when veterans apply for benefits, they are assigned to one of eight priority groups, with those who need immediate care due to service-related disabilities placed in higher priority groups. Veterans who don’t have service-connected disabilities and who earn a higher income are placed in the lower priority groups.

Location	Total Appointments Scheduled	Appointments Scheduled 30 Days or Less	Appointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
Fort Harrison, MT	12,718	11,115	1,603
Miles City CLC, MT	241	238	3
Anaconda, MT	1,157	1,122	35
Great Falls, MT	2,940	2,869	71
Missoula, MT (David J. Thatcher)	6,164	6,031	133
Bozeman, MT	1,132	1,101	31
Kalispell, MT	4,659	4,524	135
Billings Majestic Lane, MT (Benjamin Charles Steele)	4,946	4,220	726
Glasgow, MT	253	245	8
Glendive, MT	266	263	3
Cut Bank, MT	238	233	5
Lewistown, MT	227	222	5
Billings Spring Creek Lane, MT (Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow)	4,520	4,331	189
Havre, MT (Merril Lundman)	813	802	11
Hamilton, MT	1,186	1,171	15
Plentywood, MT	23	22	1
Helena, MT	595	539	56